Well that was an odd race, wasn’t it? After the tyre blow outs at Silverstone, today we saw a cameraman being hit by a tyre in the pit lane, and a retired car rolling back down the race track, resulting in a safety car. Despite this, we still had another great close race, but who should be driver of the day?
It is a tough call, as ever, and while Vettel and Raikkonen would be worthy candidates, I’m going to go with Romain Grosjean.
The Frenchman is one of the most frustratingly inconsistent drivers on the grid. One race he’ll put in a brilliant performance like today, where at one stage it looked like he could even win, but by the next race he’ll either be strangely off pace, or busy crashing into people.
He should be nicknamed “tap.” One minute he runs cold, then he runs hot…
Nobody really expected him to be in contention today, but the hotter track temperatures once again seemed to suit the characteristics of the Lotus, meaning Grosjean was able to hassle Vettel for most of the race. That he dropped to third in the closing stages was not really a result of an error he’d made, but simply the better strategy that team mate Raikkonen was on.
A great deal of uncertainty continues to surround Grosjean’s future, and this is the sort of race he needed to answer his critics. But even more than that, he needs to start having consistent race results like this. The hot conditions of Hungary that Formula One moves on to next may well give him another opportunity to shine. Remember, he finished second to Lewis Hamilton at last year’s race.
An honourable mention must also go to Mark Webber for his recovery drive to seventh. Sure, he got lucky with the safety car that meant he was able to recover a lap and close on the tail of the field. But despite this, it was a strong performance to finish in the points on a track that can be challenging to overtake on.
But who would you choose? Let us know in the comments section below.
